Consular Notification thingy of Birth Abroad

Thanks very much Jemima. Well, 5 months before we have to go through that. I've had enough of paperwork for now

When Juliona and I went home last November she went on her british passport and I on my american one, not one single person questioned it at all or said a word about it to us. (while there I applied for her american passport)

She now has both an american and a british passport so no worries in the future.

When Juliona and I went home last November she went on her british passport and I on my american one, not one single person questioned it at all or said a word about it to us. (while there I applied for her american passport)

She now has both an american and a british passport so no worries in the future.

Did you have the Consular form when you applied for the passport? I'd presume so, just checking for shortcuts.

No I just went to the post office and filled out a passport form, the only thing I did have with me since Glenn was not there was a letter stating that he consented to me signing for her to get one.  The fact that she was born in the states might make a difference, so I had a american birth cert.

Oh right, I didn't realize she was born in the States, sorry.

I went to the embassy today and registered Philips birth, got his social security number applied for, and also applied for his US passport (everyone there confirmed that it's technically illegal for him to fly to the US using anything but his US passport, since he's eligible for one).

THe forms are all on the embassy's website, and easy to find. Here's waht we did:

Got Philip's passport photos taken (www.passportphotos.co.uk).
Went to the embassy at 2:00 (our appointment was for 2:30) and stood in the (short) line.
Went through security twice. Once outside, once inside.
Handed the lady at the reception desk all of the following:
1. Form DS-11 (The app for a US passport. Pages 1 & 2 get ignored since they are appropriate only for those filing from the US). The embassy's website has instructions on how to file it from the UK.
2. Form DS-2029 (The app to register his birth. Page 2 is his app for a social security number).
3. Needed documentation: Philips LONG birth certificate (they won't accept the short ones), our passports, our marriage certificate, our appointment confirmation heet, David's divorce papers)

We had a lot of questions aboout filling out the forms before we got there, but you can NOT get anyone to answer questions at the embassy about this process. They say "write to us". Even last night when I called, they said "write to us" I said, "my appointment is tomorrow", she said" Then leave the questions blank and we'll help you when you get here". Sigh. Fine.

So when we got to the reception desk we handed her all of our documents, with the forms only 2/3 filled. She helped us answer all the blanks though - obviously she's used to getting incomplete forms! Then it was just a matter of waiting, being called up to the desk, waiting... all told we were there for 2.5 hours. Wasn't too bad at all, they were nice and helpful.

You can only register your children if they are under 16 or under 18, I'm not sure which, and the procedure (I believe) is slightly different for older children, though there were some 5-6 year olds there getting their passports as well.

Oh, and it cost us £10 to get the delivery service, and $160 or so (which we paid on our AMEX, they don't take personal checks).

Thanks for posting that Sara. You said "appointment confirmation sheet", you need to have an appointment?

Goodness me yes you need an appointment, I listened as the woman in front of me got quite a snotty look and resonse from the officer letting people in, they told her to come back when she had an appointment - she was really upset. You make the appointment via the website, NOT by phone call. Let me go get the link... http://210.177.22.41/LondonPassport/ - soemtimes you have to wait months for the next available, so it's good to get it booked ASAP.

And I swear, I never started saying "goodness me" until I have a baby. Now I can't stop!

And I swear, I never started saying "goodness me" until I have a baby. Now I can't stop!

You will find you will be saying all kinds of words you didnt think you would ever say trying to avoid saying the "bad" ones lol.

Yeah, I never got around to quitting my cussing habit when I was pregnant - it's a top priority now! 

We received his passport yesterday, exactly 2 weeks after we interviewed for it!

Cool looks like things are going smooth so far.

Just wondering if we need to do the opposite to get British citizenship/passport? (wifey will be giving birth in the US, will be living there also)

Just in case you or anybody else is wondering about this, I can offer my own personal experience as a half yank half brit born in the United States.

My dad came over in '68, was drafted into the US Army six months later. He married my mother in Iowa before he was shipped out. Five years later, I was born. After my sister was born three years later, my father finally naturalized as US citizen. At the time, he thought that taking the oath of citizenship cancelled out his UK citizenship.

My birth was not registered with the British Embassy. In my childhood, I visited Britain many times on my US Passport.

At 27 years of age, I took a trip to England and could think of nothing but returning to live something once I got back to Texas. At this time, I did not realize I was a British citizen.

Soon, I realized that UK law still considered my father a British citizen, and then found out that I was granted British nationality, and if I wanted to exercise it all I had to do was document it. There was a lot to do, but it was pretty straightforward, and all the documents had to do with proving who I said I was and that my father was born in the UK. It took some time and money to get all the necessary documents together, but once I had the application process was fairly easy and I applied by post. I made my application at the age of 30, having never spent any time in the UK other than as a foreign visitor.

My point to all this is that you don't have to register your child born to a British parent in the US unless you want to, but if you did it would make getting your child a UK passport even easier than it was for me. If you did or did not register the birth, your child would have the option of choosing for themselves if they wanted to "become" British as adults (that is, if you have not already secured passports for your children when they were minors). Britain does not seem to require that all potential dual nationals of Britain and some other country only visit on a British passport.

The answers to almost every US/UK consular questions I have ever had, I have got here -- the offical site of the UK in the United States:   www.britainusa.com

The only thing I can add is just before entering the room with all the windows, actually just after you enter the building, to stop and get one of their pre-paid delivery envelopes.  USD 10.  It saves having come back down and get one while the examiner waits...